A New York congressman with a near perfect record for voting against the rights of LGBT citizens took a step in the right direction of history Thursday when he signed on as a co-sponsor for the Safe Schools Improvement Act (SSIA), a bi-partisan federal legislation that addresses bullying and harassment for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

"School officials should be making every effort to protect kids from bullying," Republican congressman Peter King said Wednesday. "Passage of the Safe Schools Improvement Act would be a significant step toward providing a healthy school environment for all kids."

King’s move to sponsor the bill comes as a welcomed shock to many, given his long record of opposing LGBT rights. In 1999 he voted "yes" on banning same-sex adoptions in Washington, D.C. In 2004 he voted "yes" on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. In 2006 he voted "yes" to define marriage as one-man-one-woman. In 2007 he voted "no" on prohibiting job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since taking office in 1993, he has never received a rating higher than 5% from the Human Rights Campaign when it comes to LGBT issues.

"We welcome Congressman King as the latest Republican co-sponsor of this common-sense, no-cost legislation. His leadership today will ensure that our leaders of tomorrow are given the chance to thrive in a safe educational environment. As a New York native, it’s personally heartening to see Congressman King standing up for our nation’s students and on the right side of history."

The bill currently has 195 co-sponsors, 186 Democrats and 9 Republicans, one of which is King.

According to GovTrack.us, a site that helps ordinary citizens find and track bills in the U.S. Congress and understand their representatives’ legislative record, the prognosis for the bill being enacted through the Republican lead House of Representatives is 1%.

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